Street-indicator



A. D. FOSTER.

STREET INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 22, 1919.

1,377,471. Patented May 10,1921.

STREET 6 I Albion. 1:]. Fusl'er.

al bozneq UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

ALBION D. FOSTER, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

STREETJNDICATOR.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, ALBION D. FOSTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in a Street- Indicator, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to'indicators, and more particularly to those of the character for application torstreet cars and the like for indicating the various streets or stops at which the vehicle is adapted to discharge and take on passengers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a relatively small simply con- ,structed device which may be economically produced andinstalled in street cars, busses and the like, and which may be easily and accurately operated.

The invention further aims at the provision of'a device of this character having a web which is wound at opposite ends upon spaced apart reels means for maintaining the web under tenslon at all times, and an 1mproved operatlng means for advancing the webuniformly at each stroke or operation of the advanclng means.

The above, and various other objects and advantages of this invention will be 1n part "described, and in part understood, from the .following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawmg wherein Figurel is a front elevation of an indicator constructed according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken substantially centrally through the indicator.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the indicator, parts ofthe same being removed. vFig. 4 is a fragmentary upperend view of one side of the indicator, certain parts beinq broken away.

*ig. 5 is a detail enlarged view'of one of l the pawl actuating devices employed.

. :Fig. 6 is a top plan view of one of the pawls. Y

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates a casing or housing which may be of any suitable or fanciful construction, and which is provided in its front wall with a sight opening 11 which may be closed by a transparent panel or the like.

Specification of Letters Patent.

In the upper and lower ends of the casing 10 are arranged a pair of transversely extending rollers 12 and 13, and trained over these rollers is an endless apron 14, the same being held taut on the rollers by idlers or tension rollers 15 which are preferably arranged in the vertical plane of the rollers 12 and 13, and which maintain the oppositely moving portions of the apron 14 in the forward side or portion of the casing 10.

-And a web 16 is passed over the forward portion of the apron 14 and over the rollers 12 and 13, and is provided with a longituwound upon a reel 17 the intermediate portion of which is in the form of a shaft 18 projecting at one end through the adjacent side of the casing 10. A coil spring 19 is secured at one end tothe projecting endof Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed March 22, 1919. Serial No. 284,446.

the shaft 18 and at its opposite end is secured to the adjacent side of the casing 10,

and is adapted to urge the shaft 18 to turn in, one direction for the purpose of winding the web 16 upon the reel 17 The opposite or lower end of the web 16 is wound upon a reel 20 the intermediate portion of which is in the form of a shaft 21 projecting at one end through the adjacent side of the casing 10, and preferably becasing 10. The springs 19 and 22 are preferably inclosed in housings 23 and 24 respectively for protecting the springs. The springs are adapted tobe placed under tension at all times, and are of suificientlength 'neath the shaft 18. The projecting end of to admit of the complete unwinding'of the web 16 from the opposite reels 17 and20 .when the web is advanced in opposite directions.

Theupper roller 12 is the actuating roller,

ratchet wheels 26' and 27 fixed thereto, and the stem 25 also supports a pair of reciprocating 0r rocker arms 28 and 29, one for each of the ratchet wheels 26 and 27. V

and is provided upon one end with a trunnion or stem 25 having oppositely directed The rocker arms are of similar construction, preferably, and extend preferably in opposite directions, such as upwardly and downwardly. Cords 30 and 31 are secured The operation of the device is apparent for when the cord 30 is actuated, the ratchet wheel'26 is intermittently rotated to advance the roller 12 in a direction to raise the web at one end to the arms 28 and 29 at their 16 past the sight opening. When the lower outer extremities and. pass over rollers 32, or the like, to any suitable point of operation, and may be drawn for the purpose of swinging the arms 28 and 29 forwardly. Springs 33 and 34L are connected at one end to the casing 10, and at their opposite ends to the arms 28 and 29 for moving the same to their normal position. The arm 28, is provided with a gravity pawl 35 overhanging the ratchet wheel 26, and which may extend in either direction from the arm 28 by swinging the pawl 35 over, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4-. In Fig. 4 the pawl 25 is swung into position to actuate the ratchet wheel 26, and in Fig. 3 the pawl is swung into a position to free the ratchet wheel 26 and admit of the retrograde movement of the same under the action of the ratchet wheel 27. When the cord 30 is drawn forwardly, and the pawl 35 is adjusted into a position shown in Fig. 4, the ratchet wheel 26 is advanced ina clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 4, with the result that the roller 12 is turned in a direction to move the web 16 upwardly past the sight opening 11 As the apron 14 is endless, it moves the web 16 uniformly upward at each advance movement of the pawl 35 irrespective of the'rela-tive diameters of the wound andunwound portions of the reels 17 and 20.

The depending arm 29 is provided upon its lower end witha pawl 36 having a headed or cammed inner end 37 adapted to swing the pawl out of engagement with the teethof the outer ratchet wheel 27. A locking finger 38, of substantially bell crank construction, is pivoted upon the lower end of the arm 29 and has one end arranged for engagement 7 'with the cam head 37 to normally raise the same and move the pawl 36 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 27 when. the cable or cord 31 is relaxed; The cord 31 is secured to the lower end of the arm 29 and is adapted to rock the same into a position to engage the pawl with theteeth of the ratchet wheel 27 sothat the wheel turns with the arm 29 as the cable. 31 is 29, and the finger 38 is pivoted immediately beneath the pawl, and the pawl 36 as shown in Fig. 6, is provided with a laterally enlarged nose 39 which projects inwardly beyond the lever 29 and engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 27. The opposite end of the pawl 38 is in they form of a thumb button for turning the pawl downwardly to release the head 37.

cord 31 is actuated, the opposite ratchet wheel 27 is intermittently actuated to advance the web 16 downwardly past the sight opening and thus bring the indications on the web one at a time in reverse order into view.

It is of course understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction of the above specifically described embodiment of this intionally engaging over said apron and across the sight opening, contractile springs connected to said rollers and adapted to be wound for normally urging said web to wind on one of the reels, a stem on one ofthe rollers projecting through the side of the casing, a pair of spaced-apart ratchet wheels ing in opposite directions, pawls pivoted upon the stem, one for each ratchet wheel, springs normally urging the pawls into interlocking engagement with their" respective ratchet wheels, means for. advancing the pawls in directions opposite to the springs whereby to slightly operate the ratchet wheels and'drive the web in opposite directions. 7 i

2. In an indicator, a casing having a sight opening, a pair of rollers disposed in the ends of the casing, an endless apron trained over said rollers and moving past the sight opening, a pair of reels disposed between the rollers, a web having its ends wound about said reels and frictionally moving over said apron in front ofthe sight opening, contractile spring means adapted to be wound to a condition of potential energy. when the web is drawn over the. reels, a stem on one of the rollers projecting through the casing,

a pair of reinforced ratchet wheels on said on said stem and having their teeth extend- V in an initial position, and means for drawing the pawls in the opposite direction whereby to selectively operate the ratchet wheels.

3. In an indicator, the combination of a casing, an endless apron mounted in the casing, a web trained over the apron, a, stem projecting through the casing, operat ing means connected to the stem and engaging the apron to advance the same, oppositely facing ratchet disks mounted on the stem, rocker arms hinged upon the stem adjacent to the ratchet disk, and adjustable pawls mounted on the operating arm for adjustment into and out of engagement with the ratchet wheels.

4. In an indicator, the combination of a casing, a Web mounted in the casing, operating means for the web including a stem, a pair of oppositely directed ratchet wheels mounted on the stem, an arm for each ratchet wheel hinged on the stem, a hinged pawl mounted on one arm adapted to be swung into and out of engagement with the adjacent ratchet wheel, a pivoted pawl on the opposite arm normally disengaged from the adjacent ratchet wheel, an actuating element on said arm, and means connected to the element for operating the same to first ad- Vance the pivoted pawl against the ratchet wheel, and to subsequently rock the arm for turning the ratchet wheel.

ALBION D. FOSTER. 

